A Sugar Sand Moonstone

It was a beautiful day today. We’ve passed most of that hot, humid weather and it’s now cool enough to spend time outside comfortably. So after work, I decided to go letterboxing.

According to both Atlas Quest and LBNA (the two main letterboxing websites), there was a letterbox planted at Sugar Sand Park – which just happens to be near my job. It’s also one of my favorite parks in Palm Beach County. So that’s where I went.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the box, even though I followed the clues carefully. One of the landmarks listed has changed, and I suspect the box disappeared around the same time the trail was altered. (I mean, that just makes sense.) I did check possible locations based on where the missing landmark probably was, but despite poking around every Palmetto bush in the vicinity, I was not able to record a find.

I don’t really mind that I didn’t find the Moonstone. I still had a beautiful afternoon walking along a really nice nature trail.

The Lost Power Orb has been found

My daughter and I were bored, so we went off letterboxing today. Despite a sunbathing muggle who had staked out a spot next to the hiding spot, we managed to safely log another find. There was even a hitchhiker inside, which we're planning on moving next weekend.

And I'll be back to the park later this week. That bench under the tree looks like the perfect knitting spot...

I wanna go camping.

I went back to Riverbend Park today, in Jupiter. Faith came with me, and I introduced her to the joy of letterboxing.

Riverbend is one of the most beautiful parks in Palm Beach County, and I can't wait for an excuse to go back. I want to get a bicycle, or at least rent one, and explore all of the trails. I also want to rent a canoe and explore the waterways around the park. I want to go back with my very tall son, because neither Faith nor I were able to reach the oranges and tangerines growing wild. (We did snag a couple of limes, though.) And I want to be in the park when the fruit trees blossom.

It's just a walk in the park

I went out letterboxing today, and added four more finds to my tally. I would have had a fifth, but the park was closing.

I had to go by myself because everyone was busy doing other stuff. But it was alright, I had a good time. Marsha (my new TomTom) kept me company on the ride. We did have a couple of disagreements because I kept turning the wrong way (who knew electronic devices could sound so annoyed), but we worked it out and I found the parks I needed to.

Every time i go out on a hike, I wonder why I don't do it more often. I really enjoy it. I was a little nervous retrieving some of the boxes, since gators and snakes were a real possibility. But when I caught myself wishing the kids were with me to get the box for me, I realized that if it were safe enough for them, it should be safe enough for me. (Although truthfully, there are times I'd be willing to sacrifice a child.)

I had some really cool sitings while looking for the boxes. I saw a gopher tortoise, hiding in his borrow. I saw an armadillo foraging on the edge of a parking lot. I saw a blue heron sweep across the lake. And I watched a redheaded woodpecker.

Maybe I'll go back out tomorrow.

The Florida Scrub

I was bored, and my daughter needed a homework break, so we ran up to Loggerhead Park. Normally we would have just gone to the mall, but we decided to go after a letterbox instead.

It was my first visit to Juno Beach, and I think that we need to go back again soon. The park is nice, with great trails that are comfortable to walk. We didn't make it down to the beach, but the view from the top of the trail was gorgeous.

Plus, we managed to find two boxes as well as record an exchange with another pair of letterboxers.

1 P 5F 0X and 2 HH

I planted my first letterbox today. It was very cool. It was also a lot harder than I thought it would be. I ended up dragging mom all over the park, trying to find the perfect spot to leave the box. It was like the Goldilocks and the Three Bears: this place is too difficult to reach, this place is too easy to find, I wonder if this place is just right.

As usual, I've jumped into a new hobby with both feet and have become totally obsessed. I'm already planning my next "plant." And I have a pile of clues to go hunting for all over Florida. (Okay, I've also printed out clues for New Jersey, New York City, and North Carolina -- just in case we decide to do a little traveling...)

People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like. (Abraham Lincoln)

I took today off from work so that I could take my daughter to the orthodontist. After she was done, I suggested that we stop and look for a nearby letterbox. It was really pretty cool, actually finding the box with the rubber stamp and a nearly filled logbook. My daughter and I looked through the logbook, admiring all the hand carved stamps and the places people had traveled from. I was surprised at how many people had found this box, and how long it had been around. We made our own entry into the logbook, using stamps I had carved a couple of years ago, and then stamped my book with the letterbox's stamp. This letterbox had a hitchhiker (a miniature letterbox meant to travel from find to find), which was pretty exciting to us newbies. Naturally I wanted to take the hitchhiker to it's next location, which meant that my daughter and I had to go "find" another box. Amazingly, the second letterbox we found also had a hitchhiker, leading us to hunt for a third box.

My PFX count is now P0 F5 X0, with 2 HH.

I think I'm officially addicted to this new hobby. Now, where can I hide a box...

Day Three - My feet hurt!

Sunday morning we got up and went to church in Upper Manhattan. On the way to the subway, we stopped to watch a bit of the New York Marathon. It was amazing. I was so impressed, I've decided that I want to run it in four years (for my 50th birthday). I think it's possible. We'll talk more about that later.

Church service was at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in upper Manhattan. This is a huge church. One of the largest cathedrals in the world, in fact. I don't even have the words to describe it. Inside, you lift your head up, and tilt it back as far as you can, in order to see the carved ceiling. The arches leading up to it are flanked by detailed stained glass windows, with amazing carved details in the walls. If you have a chance to worship here, definitely go.

After church, we went looking for some lunch and found Yarntopia. I was good, and left without any further souvenirs. I think it was only because I was so hungry. We found a great Mexican place down the street.

After lunch, we wandered around Central Park. Except that it was really Morningside Park. After some photos, Cari took us to the real Central Park.

Central Park was huge. We hiked for I don't know how long, and we didn't even begin to see it all. Actually, we only got to explore a section of the North Woods. Explore, by the way, means that we followed our family tradition of getting lost. But we found another letterbox! So all was good in our world.

Have I mentioned that it was really cold? And that my feet hurt from all the walking we've been doing? And that this was a wonderful trip and I loved spending time with my daughter, despite the sore feet and cold fingers? I've been home for less than a week, and I miss her like crazy.

Day Two - On a Mission

Saturday morning, we ended up sleeping late (until 8 am). After leisurely getting dressed, we went out for coffee and bagels. I love New York Bagels. And Bergen Bagels have to be the second best bagels in the world. (Cincinnati's Bagel King is my all-time favorites.) The only complaint I have is that Bergen Bagels is a tiny little shop with virtually no seating. We ended up taking the bagels back to the apartment to eat.

We finally got going for real around 2 pm. Since mom and I wanted to get Cari a sewing machine, we headed out to the Garment District. Our first stop was Sew Easy. This place was even more hidden than Seaport Yarns! I don't know how anybody finds anything here in the city. But Cari knew what she was doing, and led us right to it even though it was her first visit there, too. Unfortunately, they didn't have what we were looking for. So we wandered around, just looking. We found Parsons, which was pretty neat for a couple of Project Runway fans.

We did go into Macy's flagship store. It was overwhelming. It was nine stories, and we looked at them all. My favorite thing was the wooden escalators. We all managed to walk out with a few purchases.

Although it's not her favorite place, Cari also took us up to Times Square. We wanted to be able to say we saw it. It was very crowded, very touristy, and after a quick picture we were ready to go somewhere else.

Next we went to Union Square. The farmer's market was still going on, even though it was early evening, so we wandered a little bit. By chance mom noticed one of the stands was marked "Van Houton Farms." Gramma and Grampa had been friends with Van Houtons, so mom stopped to ask if this was the same family. Amazingly, it was! We talked with the brother of Gramma's friend. I remember Gramma taking us kids to the farm to camp. This is the same farm that the famous Bear Chase occurred.

From Union Square, we went up a couple of blocks to the Strand. This is a huge used book store that boasts 18 miles of books. It also happens to be where my daughter works. We had to stop and browse, and walked out with a few more purchases.

While we were in the area, we also stopped in at Trader Johns for some groceries. I knew that grocery stores in New York would deliver your purchases (which beats carrying them on the subway, the way we did). But I hadn't realized how late the stores were open, and that deliveries could be made right up until midnight. Which would have been very fortunate, since we didn't make it back to the apartment until almost 11 pm.

We had one other adventure on Saturday. Mom, Cari and I found our very first letterbox! It was so cool, finding the treasure box and using the stamp inside to mark our logbooks. I don't want to give any of it away, so I won't say anymore about it.